Press having adjustable platen loading

ABSTRACT

A PRESS HAVING A PROCESSING CHAMBER BOUNDED ON TWO OPPOSING SIDES BY DRIVE BELTS WHICH ARE CAUSED TO LONGITUDINALLY CONVERGE BY OPPOSED PLATENS WHEREBY THE PROCESSING CHAMBER IS OF DIMINISHING SIDE-TO-SIDE DIMENSION. FILTER BELTS OVERLAY THE DRIVE BELTS AND ARE DRIVEN LONGITUDINALLY THROUGH THE PROCESSING CHAMBER THEREBY, THE FILTER BELTS BEING TENSIONED TO ASSUME THE CONVERGING RELATIONSHIP OF THE DRIVE   BELTS. ONE OF THE PLATENS INCLUDES A YIELDABLE PORTION WHICH IS SUPPORTED AT ONE END ONLY AND PROVIDED WITH FLUID OPERATED CYLINDER-AND-PISTON MEANS OPERABLE FOR CAUSING THE YIELDABLE PORTION TO VARY THE ANGLE AT WHICH THE ADJACENT DRIVE BELT EXTENDS TOWARDS THE OTHER THEREOF FOR VARYING THE PRESSING FORCE ON MATERIAL IN THE PROCESSING CHAMBER.

United States Patent Inventor Oscar Lutbi Nashua, N11.

Appl. No. 800,491

Filed Feb. 19, 1969 Patented June 28, 1971 Assignee Improved Machinery, Inc. Nashua, NH.

PRESS HAVING ADJUSTABLE PLATEN LOADING 10 Claims, 4 Drawing Figs.

2,046,047 6/1936 Watkins (/154UX) 3,063,362 11/1962 Guettler 100/118X 3,381,609 5/1968 Malarkey 100/121X Primary Examiner-Billy .l. Wilhite Attameys--Carl R. Horten, David W. Tibbott and Robert R.

Paquin ABSTRACT: A press having a processing chamber bounded on two opposing sides by drive belts which are caused to iongitudinally converge by opposed platens whereby the processing chamber is of diminishing side-to-side dimension.

U.S.Cl 100/118, Filter belts overlay the drive belts and are driven longitw IOU/152, 100/154, 210/3 dinally through the processing chamber thereby, the filter Int. Cl B301) 9/24 belts being tensioned to assume the converging relationship of Field of Search 100/1 18, the drive helm o of the platens i m a yieldabk portion 152; 210/386 401 which is supported at one end only and provided with fluid operated cylinder-and-piston means operable for causing the References Cited yieldable portion to vary the angle at which the adjacent drive UNITED STATES PATENTS belt extends towards the other thereof for varying the pressing 1,778,342 10/1930 Thompson 100/1 18X force on material in the processing chamber.

4; 62 62 J t}: 24 22 102 20 l 94 9e- |o o PATENTEUJUHZSISH 35873451 SHEET 1 BF 2 Winn FIG. I

INVENTOR OSCAR LUTH/ ATTORNEY PATENTED JUN28 19?:

SHEET 2 BF 2 INVENTOR, 0504/? LUTH/ ATTORNEY PRESS HAVING ADJUSTABLE PLATEN LOADING BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to presses and more particularly to presses of the type wherein material is pressed by being transported through a processing chamber of diminishing dimension.

U.S. Pat. No. 3,381,609, entitled "Filter Press" and issued May 7, 1968, discloses a press wherein a plurality of drive belts are arranged to form sidewalls of a processing chamber and caused to converge by pressure platens such that the processing chamber narrows as it extends longitudinally between the drive belts. The drive belts drive filter belts through the processing chamber whereby material disposed between the filter belts is pressed during its movement through the narrowing processing chamber.

The press disclosed in said U.S. patent is provided with rigid platens constructed to apply a fixed pressing force to material transported through the processing chamber and is not readily adjustable to vary or adjust the pressing force applied to the processed material. As a result, the press of said patent is not readily adaptable for pressing different materials or materials of different consistencies, which require the application of different pressing forces for optimum press operation.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The principal object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved press of this general type which is particularly constructed and arranged whereby the pressure applied by the press is readily and simply adjustable.

Another object of the invention is to provide a new and improved press of this general type which is adjustable to permit different desired pressure distributions to be provided in the processing chamber.

In general, these objects are attained by the provision of a press comprising a plurality of walls bounding the sides of a processing chamber which has inlet and discharge ends and which diminishes in side-to-side dimension whereby material driven longitudinally through the processing chamber is pressed therein. At least one of such walls includes one side face of a drive belt which is arranged longitudinally along the processing chamber and movable to drive material longitudinally through the processing chamber; and platen means are arranged to extend along the side face of such drive belt opposite to said one side face thereof for causing the drive belt to project towards a wall of the processing chamber opposing the one side face, such platen means including at least a portion adjustable to vary the angle at which the drive belt projects towards such opposing wall and thereby vary the pressing force on material in said processing chamber. Means are also provided for adjusting the adjustable portion of the platen means.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is an elevational side view of a press constructed in accordance with one embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged, fragmentary sectional view taken through the upper or inlet end of the processing chamber of the press shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged, fragmentary elevational view of the press shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 showing the arrangement provided for varying the pressure applied to material processed by the press; and

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary, elevational sectional view taken on line 4-4 of FIG. 3 looking in the direction of the arrows.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring more particularly to the drawings wherein similar reference characters designate corresponding parts throughout the several views, FIG. I illustrates a press designated generally as which, as illustrated, is particularly adapted for separating liquid from a liquid-solid mixture. The

press 10 comprises a supporting frame including a generally vertical supporting post 12 ground mounted by a base 14. The supporting post 12 carries a plurality of elongated, opposed, substantially upright frame sections 16, 18 which are connected to the supporting post 12 by suitable bracket structure (not shown) on the opposite side of the press 10 from that shown in FIG. 1. The frame sections l6, 18 are interconnected on each side of the press 10 by a plurality of strain rods 20 which adjacent their opposing ends extend through sleeves 22 rigidly mounted on the frame sections l6, 18. The frame sections 16, 18 are spaced a predetermined distance apart by spacers (not shown) and are held in this spaced relationship by lock nuts 24 threaded on the opposite ends of the strain rods 20.

The press 10 also includes a pair of generally imperforate, endless drive belts 26, 28 having opposed vertical reaches 26a, 28a which extend in spaced relationship between the frame sections 16. 18. The reaches 26a, 28a, as shown in FIG. 2, include adjacent side faces 30, 32 forming opposing sidewalls of an elongated, vertical pressing or processing chamber 34, and also have remote side faces 36, 38 remote from the processing chamber 34. The drive belt 26 is entrained around drums or rolls 40, 42 which are rotatably mounted at the upper and lower ends, respectively, of the frame section 16. The drive belt 28 is similarly entrained around rotatably mounted drums or rolls 44, 46 at the upper and lower ends, respectively, of the frame section 18. The rolls 40, 44 are vertically adjustable, and may be tensioned, in the manner disclosed in the aforementioned U.S. Pat. No. 3,381,609.

The drive belts 26, 28 are longitudinally driven to cause their reaches 26a, 28a to move downwardly between the frame sections l6, 18. More particularly, as shown in FIG. I, a drive motor 54 is connected through a gear reduction unit 56 and a drive chain 58 to rotatably drive each of the lower rolls 42, 46 such that the drive belt 26 is driven in a clockwise direction, as viewed in FIG. 1, and the drive belt 28 is driven in a counterclockwise direction, again as viewed in FIG. 1.

An endless filter belt 60 is longitudinally positioned around the drive belt 26 and connected to the latter to be longitudinally driven thereby in the direction of the movement of the drive belt 26. The filter belt 60 thus includes a vertical reach which extends through the processing chamber 34 and overlays the reach 26a of the drive belt 26. The filter belt 60 extends over the rolls 40, 42 and is tensioned by a roll 62 mounted on an adjustable supporting bracket 64 such that its said vertical reach is drawn into engagement with the side face 30 of the reach 26a. Similarly, an endless filter belt 66 is longitudinally positioned around the drive belt 28 and connected to be longitudinally driven thereby in the direction of the movement of the drive belt 28. The filter belt 66 includes a vertical reach extending through the processing chamber 34 in overlaying relationship to the reach 28a of the drive belt 28, and extends around the rolls 44, 46 and a roll 62 carried by an adjustable supporting bracket 64 such that said vertical reach is drawn into engagement with the side face 32 of the reach 28a.

The filter belts 60, 66 may be of any suitable construction and, as illustrated, are of the type disclosed in U.S. Pat. application Ser. No. 601,049, entitled Filtering Means for Filter Press," filed Dec. 12, I966 by Neil Malarkey Jr. and now U.S. Pat. No. 3,453,951 issued July 8, 1969. More particularly, as illustrated, each of the filter belts 60, 66 comprises an endless backing portion 72, constructed of narrower width than the drive belts 26, 28 and located centrally thereof, which includes a plurality of drainage openings through its thickness and spaced transverse ribs 76 engaging one of the drive belts 26, 28 to provide laterally open drainage cavities which are bounded by such one of the drive belts 26, 28. In addition, each of the filter belts 60, 66 comprises an endless porous filtering portion 80 shown disposed in a recess formed in the outer face of the backing portion 72, but which may be alternatively disposed overlying the outer face of the backing portion 72.

A liquid collector is provided for collecting liquid separated from a liquid-solid mixture in the processing chamber 34. This collector is substantially identical to that described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,381,609, and, hence, is only generally hereinafter described. As illustrated, the collector is positioned between the reaches 26a, 28a of the drive belts 26, 28 and comprises elongated outer webs 84 which are arranged to extend longitudinally along opposing sides of the processing chamber 34 throughout the length of the latter. The webs 84, as shown in FIG. 2, are provided with elongated sealing strips 86 engaging the reaches 26a, 28a and cooperate with such sealing strips 86 to form elongated walls or flow barriers for sealing their respective sides of the processing chamber 34. Inwardly of each web 84 is positioned an elongated flange 88 which extends the length of the processing chamber 34 and is spaced from its respective adjacent web 84 by an elongated recess or pocket 90 also extending the length of the processing chamber 34. The flanges 88 each carry a plurality of baffle elements 92 engaging the adjacent edges of the filter belts 60, 66 and preventing solid material from passing into the pockets 90. A discharge hose 94 is connected to the upper end of each of the pockets 90 and discharges the liquid therefrom.

The frame section 16 carries a generally vertical, platen assembly or means 96 which includes a side face 98 extending along the remote side face 36 of the drive belt reach 26a throughout the length and breadth of the processing chamber 34. The platen assembly 96, as illustrated in FIG. 1, is particularly constructed to cause the drive belt 26 to project towards the drive belt 28 as the belt 26 longitudinally extends from the upper or inlet end of the processing chamber 34 towards the lower or discharge end thereof. The frame section 18 also carries a generally vertical, platen assembly or means 100 oppositely disposed to the platen assembly 96 including a side face 102 extending along the remote side face 38 of the drive belt reach 280 throughout the length and breadth of the processing chamber 34. The platen assembly 100 is particularly constructed to cause the drive belt 28 to project towards the drive belt 26 as the belt 28 extends downwardly from the inlet end of the processing chamber 34 to the discharge end of the latter. Hence, the drive belts 26, 28 converge as they extend so downwardly; and resultantly the processing chamber 34 if formed of diminishing side-to-side dimension whereby material may be pressed by being driven longitudinally therethrough between the filter belts 60, 66.

In accordance with the present invention, the platen assembly 100 is particularly constructed and arranged such that the pressing force applied to material in the processing chamber 34 is readily and simply adjustable. More particularly, as illustrated in FlGS. l and 3, the portion of the platen assembly 100 adjacent the upper or inlet end of the processing chamber 34 is formed to include a generally vertical, rigid, upper platen element or platen body 104 which is rigidly mounted on a fixed, generally vertical platen support 106 by retaining means 108. The upper portion of the platen side face 102 is formed by an angled face 110 of the platen element 104; and hence a nonadjustable predetermined pressing force is exerted on material in the processing chamber 34 adjacent the upper or inlet end thereof. The portion of the platen assembly 100 immediately adjacent the lower or discharge end of the processing chamber 34, however, is formed from a generally vertical, yieldable lower platen or plate element 112 which is cantilever supported (that is, supported at one end only) by being pivotally connected at 114 on the lower end of the upper platen element 104. The lower platen element 112 may be constructed from a metal such as steel, a polymer, or other suitable material and is relatively flexible by external force applied thereto. Moreover, in the event that the lower platen element 112 is constructed of sufficiently flexible material, it could be rigidly connected at its upper end to the upper platen element 104 rather than pivotally connected as shown.

The lower platen element 112 includes a face 116 which forms the lower end of the platen side face 102 and, similarly to the upper platen element 104, laterally extends the width of the processing chamber 34 and preferably the width of the drive belt 28. A plurality of fluid operated cylinder-and-piston motors or means, each designated generally as 118, are suitably connected to the lower platen element 112 at locations spaced throughout its length and breadth for adjusting the element 112 to cause the latter to adjust or vary the angle at which the drive belt reach 28a extends towards the drive belt reach 26a adjacent the lower end of the processing chamber 34 and thereby adjust or vary the pressing force on material at such location. The cylinder-and-piston means 118 are illustrated as being six in number, but alternatively could be of other suitable number. The means 118 each include a piston, designated generally as 120, connected to the side face 122 of the element 112 and a cylinder 124 rigidly mounted on a lower end extension 126 of the fixed platen support 106. The cylinders 124 are supplied operating fluid, such as hydraulic fluid, through individual fluid supply hoses 128 such that the pistons may be moved for adjusting the loading on the platen element 112 to vary the pressing force on material adjacent the lower end of the processing chamber 34.

During the operation of the press 10, a liquid-solid mixture to be processed by the press 10 is supplied to the upper end of the processing chamber 34 by a supply duct 130. Liquid separated from the mixture in the processing chamber 34 is discharged through a passage means comprising the pockets 90 and hoses 94. The solid material remaining between the filter belts 60, 66 is removed from the latter by a pair of scraper blades 131 and falls by gravity onto an endless conveying belt 132 which transports it from the press 10.

More specifically, in the operation of the press 10 the lower platen element 1 12 is adjusted or positioned to cause the drive belt 28 and the filter belt 66 to project towards the drive belt 26 at an angle suitable for providing the pressing force desired for the material to be pressed. This adjustment is accomplished by supplying pressurized fluid to the cylinders 124 to flex the lower platen element 112 to an orientation providing such desired pressing force; and the platen element 112 is maintained in this orientation by the fluid in the cylinders 124 until a change in the pressing force is desired whereupon the orientation of the element 112 is readjusted in the aforedescribed manner.

The drive belts 26, 28 are driven by the drive motors 54 such that they, in turn, drive the filter belts 60, 66 downwardly through the processing chamber 34. The liquid-solid mixture to be processed by the press 10 is pumped through the supply duct 130 into the upper or inlet end of the processing chamber 34 where the platen assemblies 96, 10 (and hence the drive conveyors 26, 28 and filter belts 60, 66) are spaced a substantial distance apart. As the filter belts 60, 66 move downwardly through the processing chamber 34, they carry this mixture with them. Thus, as they progressively converge in the processing chamber 34, liquid or filtrate is pressed out of the liquid-solid mixture and flows through the filter belts 60, 66 into the pockets 90 from whence it is discharged through the discharge hoses 94. The solids in the mixture, being unable to pass through the filter belts 60, 66 remain entrapped therebetween and, after being so tightly compacted as to separate substantially all liquid therefrom, are carried downwardly below the processing chamber 34 thereby. These solids are removed from the filter belts 74, 80 by the scrapers 131 and fall by gravity onto the conveying belt 132 which transports them from the press 10.

Although the preceding description and the accompanying drawings only specifically illustrate and describe a single embodiment of the present invention, it will be understood that this single embodiment has been given by way of illustration only and that the invention is not limited to this embodiment, but rather contemplates other embodiments and variations within the scope of the following claims.

I claim:

1. A press comprising a plurality of walls bounding the sides of a processing chamber which has inlet and discharge ends and which diminishes in side-to-side dimension whereby material driven longitudinally through the processing chamber is pressed therein, at least one of said walls including one side face of a drive belt arranged longitudinally along the processing chamber and movable to drive material longitudinally through the processing chamber, platen means extending along the other side face of said drive belt for causing said drive belt to longitudinally extend in angular relationship to a wall of said processing chamber opposing said one side face whereby the processing chamber narrows in side-to-side dimension between said one side face and such opposing wall, said platen means being for at least a portion of its length flexible and adjustable for varying the angular relationship of said drive belt to such opposing wall to vary the pressing force on material in said processing chamber, and means for applying force to said flexible length of said platen means at a plurality of locations spaced longitudinally of said processing chamber for urging said flexible length at said locations towards said drive belt to adjust said flexible length.

2. A press according to claim 1, wherein said urging means comprises fluid operated cylinder-and-piston means connected to said flexible length of said platen means at said locations.

3. A press according to claim 2, wherein said flexible length of said platen means is of plate configuration.

4. A press according to claim 1, wherein said flexible length of said platen means extends adjacent the discharge end of said processing chamber.

5. A press according to claim 1, wherein said flexible length of said platen means extends adjacent the discharge end of said processing chamber and is supported adjacent one end only, and said urging means comprises first cylinder-andpiston means connected to said flexible length adjacent such discharge end and second cylinder-and-piston means connected to said flexible length upstream of the connection of such first cylinder-and-piston means.

6. A press according to claim 5, wherein said flexible length of said platen means is of plate configuration and has a side face extending along said other said face of said drive belt, and the cylinder and-piston means are connected to the side face of said flexible length which is remote from said drive belt.

7. A press comprising a plurality of longitudinally driven drive belts having reaches spaced to include adjacent opposing side faces and remote side faces, elongated flow barriers cooperating with said reaches to bound the sides of a processing chamber which has inlet and discharge ends, platen means having a side face adjacent the remote side face of one of said drive belt reaches for causing said one reach to project towards the other thereof to form said processing chamber of diminishing side-to-side dimension whereby material driven longitudinally through said processing chamber is pressed therein, said platen means being for at least a portion of its length flexible and of plate configuration, said flexible length of said platen means extending adjacent said discharge end of said processing chamber and being yieldable to vary the angle at which said one reach extends toward the other thereof for varying the pressing force on material in said processing chamber between said reaches, first cylinder-and-piston means connected to said flexible length of said platen means adjacent said discharge end of said processing chamber for exerting force to urge said flexible length at such location towards said remote face of said one drive belt reach, second cylinder-and-piston means connected. to said flexible length of said platen means at a location spaced longitudinally of said processing chamber from and intermediate said first cylinderand-piston means and the chamber inlet end for exerting force to urge said flexible length at such location towards said remote face of said one drive belt reach, filter belt means overlaying the adjacent side face of at least one of said drive belt reaches in the processing chamber, and means for discharging liquid flowing through said filter belt means.

8. A press according to claim 7, wherein said flexible length of said platen means is generally vertical and supported adjacent one end only.

9. A press according to claim 7, wherein each of said cylinder-and-piston means comprises a plurality of cylinderand-piston arrangements.

10. A press according to claim 9, wherein said cylinder-andpiston arrangements are individually connected to saidflexible length. 

